Reduced bond denied in Carey home burglary case

Brendan Hoffman (back), of Carey, looks on as his lawyer, Jack Felgenhauer, speaks during a hearing in Wyandot County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday afternoon. Hoffman, 22, is accused of burglarizing a home in Carey. A motion to have Hoffman’s $100,000 bond reduced was denied.

Wyandot County Common Pleas Court Judge Kate Aubry has denied a Carey man’s request to have the $100,000 bond in his burglary case reduced.
Brendan M. Hoffman, 22, of 314 E. Findlay St., Carey, was indicted April 11 on two counts of burglary of a home on CH 96 in Carey.
“The court finds that bail as previously set is appropriate,” Aubry ruled, following Wednesday afternoon’s bond reduction hearing.
In his closing argument, Wyandot County Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Miller said Hoffman, who has been in jail since the April 10 incident, does not have a job that he needs to return to and explained that the $100,000 bond is appropriate in this case.
“It’s a very serious offense, a felony in the second degree, and the weight of the evidence against the defendant is significant,” Miller told the court. “There is a history of substance abuse and we would ask, consistent with the victim’s wishes in this case, that bond be maintained at $100,000 cash or surety.”
Hoffman’s attorney, Jack Felgenhauer asked for the bond to be reduced to $25,000, pointing out that his client did not use a weapon during the alleged crime and he is not a flight risk.
“He has lived his whole life here (in Wyandot County),” Felgenhauer told the court. “He has strong family ties here. … He doesn’t have any financial resources to abscond. He’s not on probation or parole or any other court-ordered sanctions. He has no record of flight to avoid prosecution or failure to appear in court.
“The call for the offense was made at (1:30 p.m.) and the arrest was at (1:39 p.m.),”  Felgenhauer added. “It’s not a big fleeing or eluding case like one would expect.”
Wyandot County Sheriff’s Lt. Todd Frey took the witness stand, testifying that Hoffman fled from the scene and law enforcement officers chased him into a wooded area behind the home. Frey said, at one point, he drew his weapon when attempting to arrest Hoffman, who had in his possession a pocket knife stolen from the residence.
Frey said Hoffman was caught in the act by a resident of the home and later confessed.
“The reason he went to that residence, he was accusing (a male) who lives there of stealing $2,000 in cash from his residence and he was going to the residence to beat him up,” Frey testified. “He said when he got there (the other male) wasn’t there, so he decided, since he stole from him, he decided to steal from them.”
While questioning Frey, Miller asked, “Mr. Hoffman is also a suspect in another burglary in the village of Carey … and allegedly items from that burglary were found in Mr. Hoffman’s vehicle?” Frey answered yes to both.
No trial date has been set in the case.

By CHANDA NEELY
Staff writer

Posted by Daily Chief on April 26, 2012. Filed under Featured,Local News,Recent Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry